Michigan State University

Dr. Larry Nassar has been sentenced to decades in prison for sexual abuses. Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon resigned shortly thereafter. In her place, MSU’s board of trustees unanimously voted in Former Michigan Gov. John Engler. All of this as the Michigan Attorney General begins an investigation into what MSU new about Dr. Nassar’s conduct. WGVU spoke one-on-one with Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Larry Nassar, the sports doctor who was convicted for molesting 190 girls and women earlier this month has been making headlines nationally. Katie Strang is the managing editor of The Athletic, a sports news publication in Michigan. Her coverage of the Nassar’s trial stood out in that it centered the stories of the women who spoke out and stood up to the doctor who abused so many. WGVU’s Mariano Avila talked to Katie Strang about her coverage. A warning, accounts of abuse described here may be disturbing.

“When you read that there were 190 women sexually abused, that’s a number. It is something entirely different to see a young girl with bangs and braces, and someone that fiddles with their necklace and has tears rolling down her cheeks, and is shaking reading her letter.”

Katie Strang is the managing editor at the sports news site “The Athletic.com” She tells me that when Larry Nassar’s trial began, she dropped everything to tell the story from the survivor’s point of view, starting with Rachael DenHollander, the first woman to come forward.

Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon has declined a $150,000 raise as school officials face criticism for their handling of an ex-campus doctor who sexually assaulted many young gymnasts.

Simon rejected the raise Friday at a Board of Regents meeting attended by victims of Larry Nassar.

He pleaded guilty last month to molesting girls at his campus office and elsewhere.

Simon and the board agreed to put the money in a scholarship fund and create a $10 million fund for mental health services for sexual assault survivors.

Michigan State University is putting a $1 million gift toward expanding and renovating its music facilities. The East Lansing school announced Tuesday the money from alumni Byron and Dolores Cook helps launch a project to build a Music Pavilion for the university's College of Music. Plans include adding roughly 35,000 square feet of rehearsal, practice and performance space and renovating 8,500 square feet in the Music Building and Music Practice Building next door.

Michigan State University officials plan to spend nearly $50 million modernizing a campus power plant in the coming years.

The improvements to the T.B. Simon Power Plant will include replacing two boilers that have been in operation since the plant's opening in 1965. School officials say the new boiler and improvements to the plant's capacity are expected to take around nine months to plan. They should take an additional 18 months to complete.

If you're fascinated by lakes, an online Michigan State University extension course may be for you. Registration is open for the Introduction to Lakes program, which begins in January. It's a six-week, self-paced course.

Officials say more than 230 lake enthusiasts have taken it during the past two years. They say it should appeal to lakefront property owners, lake users and managers, local government officials and educators.

Michigan State is opening up an $88 million research center in Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Medical Research Center opens next week. Scientists at the center will research cures and treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancer. The focus will be on neuroscience, women's health science, children's health science and cancer.

A group of East Lansing first-graders who wrote to Queen Elizabeth for a class project weren't disappointed by the British monarch. Teacher Shawn Millhouse's first-graders at Pinecrest Elementary received a response from Queen Elizabeth's assistant about how much the queen likes horses and dogs.

The monarch's Lady-in-Waiting, Susan Hussey, wrote that Queen Elizabeth was happy to receive letters from the 21 students. Hussey wrote that, "Her Majesty was pleased to hear from you all and greatly appreciated the care you have each taken with your illustrations."

Records show a Michigan State University doctor resigned in January after learning the school was considering her termination because she didn't disclose that USA Gymnastics was investigating Dr. Larry Nassar.

The Lansing State Journal reports that documents obtained from Brooke Lemmen's personnel file through the Freedom of Information Act reveal she also removed patient records at Nassar's request.